Boyhood, the new film written, directed, and co-produced by Richard Linklater, has landed on a number of lists of Best Movies of 2014, including all three New York Times film critics: A.O. Scott and Stephen Holden, who place the film in the No. 1 spot on their lists, and Manohla Dargis, whose favorites are listed alphabetically (and also include Inherent Vice).

Shot over 12 years with the same cast, Boyhood is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before the viewers’ eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason’s parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha, Boyhood charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before.

"In my 15 years of professional movie reviewing, I can’t think of any film that has affected me the way Boyhood did," exclaims A.O. Scott. "It is not just that I was moved—I’m frequently moved—but that my critical impulse seemed to collapse, along with my ability to find the boundary between art and life ... Filming the story over 12 years was a bold and brilliant gamble. Mr. Linklater’s discovery of Ellar Coltrane to play the lead role of Mason was serendipitous. Watching his character grow in fairly ordinary circumstances is endlessly intriguing and surprisingly suspenseful ...It opens on American life and offers a progress report on our spiritual condition." Read more at nytimes.com.

Stephen Holden calls Boyhood his "favorite American film since Brokeback Mountain (2005)" and describes Linklater's decision to follow Coltrane over a dozen years as a "one-of-a-kind fiction feature." Read his best-movies list at nytimes.com.

The Washington Post movie critic Ann Hornaday chose Boyhood as the #1 Best Movie of 2014 as well. "With this touching coming-of-age drama, writer-director Richard Linklater accomplished so many groundbreaking things at once," writes Hornaday, among them creating "a new cinematic language, allowing past and present to mesh as seamlessly as they do in real life ... And he created a portrait of a family evolving, yet staying the same, that moved and resonated with anyone who had ever been a parent, or a child, or both." Read her list at washingtonpost.com.

Boyhood tops the list of New York magazine's David Edelstein (also of CBS Sunday Morning and NPR's Fresh Air). "In this year, in which time weighs more and more heavily on our collective way of life—and our planet—Richard Linklater has created a film that makes time visible," writes Edelstein. "But the result feels like no other film." Read his list at vulture.com.

Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers has Boyhood at #1 on his year-end list as well. "The smallest, quietest, least pushy film of 2014 is also the year's best and biggest emotional powerhouse," says Travers. "Boyhood, sculpted from the highs and lows of [Linklater's] own life, is his landmark, his purest personal expression." Read more at rollingstone.com.

Indiewire's film critic Eric Kohn concurs, placing the film at the top of his list too. "Epic in scope yet unassuming throughout, Linklater's incredibly involving chronicle marks an unprecedented achievement in fictional storytelling," Kohn raves. "Boyhood is an entirely fluid work that puts the process of maturity under the microscope and analyzes its nuances with remarkable detail. More than that, it amplifies the elusive qualities that feed into conscious experience. ... The ultimate triumph of Boyhood is that its brilliance creeps up on you."

Boyhood has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards and five Independent Spirit Awards and has won four LA Film Critics Awards, four Boston Film Critics Awards, three New York Film Critics Circle Awards, and three New York Film Critics Online, including Best Picture for all of the above. Boyhood was also named among the Top Films of the Year by the National Board of Review.

The film’s soundtrack spans the story’s 12 years, with songs ranging from the year 2000 (Coldplay’s “Yellow” and The Hives’ “Hate to Say I Told You So”) to 2013 (Yo La Tengo’s “I’ll Be Around”). The album also includes the classic “Band on the Run,” by Paul McCartney and Wings (from the 2010 re-mastered album of the same name) and the debut of a new song written by Jeff Tweedy and performed by the father/son duo Tweedy—“Summer Noon.” To pick up a copy of the soundtrack, head to the Nonesuch Store, where it is now 15% off the everyday low price listed on the site as part of the Nonesuch Store anniversary sale.